SotB XIV: Twelve Faces of Fear
Long before the Galactic Empire, there was the Infinite Empire of the Rakata. The 12-Face Topaz holds the key to their past...and perhaps their future. Agents Team Reo Recording * Balken Oppen * Doxel "Dox" Ovo * Durin Boge * Erdogan Cael * Hank * Jasper Sunflare * Jokan Benn * Kii'Vera * Reo * Shorbecca * Thom * Tokrin Mission Report Before the Separation Summary by Dart The Broker informs the group that one of his contacts has been studying the infinite empire, and has come across the “Ruby of Despair”. When she arrives, the Ruby and Topaz fly out of their respective casings and Join together. Shorbecca and Cail try to pull them apart and are assaulted by a vision. The rodian researcher consults them and asks them for more info, and they both say "Bastion” without realizing it. She reveals herself as Renev anwck ((no idea how to spell that)) and her associate is Keb. The Broker orders the group to kill off any Rakata they find and salvage tech. The Rodian thinks that this group of Rakata were non cannibalistic and less violent. She programs hyperspace jump to Cassack 4, from there they group will make the jump to the location revealed in the vision. As they are traveling, the hyperdrive is blown to bits. Turns out the research assistant is Captain COMPNOR, and Renev is Yiyar. He tries to call imperials, but she betrays him, the ship is surrounded by Yiyar ships. The groups ship is immediately torn apart by the Yiyar’s missles, and they are forced to run for the escape pods. Team Jasper Summary by Dart Jokan pilots the escape pod onto the planet’s surface, the group getting thrown from it violently and getting pretty hurt. Soon after moving away from the wreckage, the group is attacked by two materializing striped felines with a horn. One cat nearly kills Thom before shorbecca takes a shot at the other. The OTHER cat then blinds shorbecca. Boge frees COMPNOR to try and get him to help, COMPNOR runs off, Jasper runs in and Force Harms the cat on Shorbecca. Boge chases after COMPNOR and uses his whipcord launcher to ensnare him and get his gun back. The group hears the cries of Lament, which COMPNOR escapes and runs off to. They find a huge chasm that they have to get across. Cutting down a tree to make a bridge, Shorbecca, Nick, and Jokan all nearly fall to their death but Thom and Boge are able to pull them up. As Jasper jumps across, he is held in midair by Shorin. As Lament tries to turn Jasper into a Force Wraith, the other team flies in on Rupings. Erdo is able to swoop in and rescue Jasper from the other side of the Ravine, so the group tries to escape from the Inquisitor, COMPNOR, and their posse. Two AT-STs are dropped in front of the ground team as Shorin and the Inquisitor close in from behind. The Ruping team takes pot shots at the AT-STs as they fly away and try to lose the two TIE fighters that are closing in. Lament and Shorin attack Jokan. Reo starts to build a bomb, but it was shot by one of the storm troopers, hitting everyone on the ground. Boge’s words towards COMPNOR convince the man to turn on Shorin and the Stormtroopers. Dox lands a solid hit on Shorin with his vibroblade and Hank jumps from his Ruping to also engage Shorin with his lightsaber. Hank surrenders to Shorin to spare the rest of the downed group. Team Reo Summary by Cail Dox, Balken, Erdo, Kii, Hank, Reo & the captured Anev Yiyar load into the other escape pod. Hank attempts to pilot it safely to the planet's surface, but the pod receives a direct hit to its engines and crashes into the side of a mountain, shaking the occupants. Reo and Anev disembark first, but as the others attempt to flee the pod, the Nightflyer fires on them in a strafing run. The blasts miss the pod and the crew, but trigger an avalanche. Kii manages to hustle Balken and Erdo out of the way, but Dox is caught by the slide. Erdo recognizes a trail and feels a compulsion to follow it from his connection with the fused Ruby-Topaz. Kii recognizes that the rocks in this area would be poisonous with prolonged exposure, and the group proceeds up the mountain. Arriving at an enclosed, rocky area, Kii and Erdo recognize movement on the mountain in front of them. Kii eventually picks out Teams of Yiyar ambushers on the cliffs ahead. He finds an alternate path, and leads most of the group to set up a counter-ambush. Reo and Dox stay behind. Reo stuns Anev, while Dox takes Reo's Lancer pistol to strike at the distant Rodians and set up the counter-ambush. After Dox fires, the group springs into action against the Yiyar. Balken uses a plasma charge to eliminate an emplacement with a missile tube and heavy repeating blaster. Hank begins to rush across to another ambush group, but he is intercepted by a blaster bolt from the sniper above which injures his arm. Erdo attempts to suppress the sniper's fire while Dox and Kii whittle away at the other ambushers from cover. Balken, Kii and Erdo attempt to move toward the sniper but are frustrated by the difficult terrain. Kii and Balken manage to get in a couple of shots before the sniper flees. The sniper fires a bolt at Balken, which glances the top of his head, knocking him unconscious. Unfortunately for the sniper, her new position is near anti-personnel mines, which Erdo and Kii shoot, exploding them and eliminating the sniper. By this time, Dox and Hank had eliminated the rest of the ambush squads, and the group proceeded to up the mountain. Inside the cave, the group finds the bodies of some biologists and explorers who brought Rupings to this planet and then found themselves stranded by the instability of hyperspace routes in the Unknown Regions. The note found on their corpses also mentioned dangerous tigers on the other side of the river. Kii manages to wrangle and mount the alpha Ruping, while the rest of the party mounts some other Rupings and they all fly off to rejoin the other agents. AFTER THE RALLY AT THE RIVER While their ground bound companions engage the Imperial forces, Erdo and Jasper, Balken and Kii, and Shorbecca fly Rupings toward the mountain stronghold which calls to Erdo and Shorbecca through their connection with the Ruby-Topaz. Shorbecca manages to hit an AT-ST with a guided rocket. Balken finds a route through a canyon which will protect the Rupings from blaster fire from the pursuing TIE fighters. Kii maneuvers the alpha Ruping through the canyon and Shorbecca and Erdo’s Rupings follow. Jasper, with the memory of Shaak Ti’s appearance, manages to fight off the corruption Lament has laid upon him. After Tokrin drops off Hank, he picks up Dox and joins the others on their flight to the mountain. Once everyone arrives at the mountain, the construct, Bastion, reveals to all the agents that it is a relic of the Kwa, and had engaged them all in a training simulation. SotB 014